Lifestyles

• Gene Therapy: No Time to "Stick to Sports"

  May 31, 2022 Gene Clemons 0 Comments

  

   

  by Gene Clemons

   

  “Stick to sports!”

   

  If you have played, coached, or covered sports you know this phrase all too well. The familiar refrain of those who believe that if you are involved in athletics, then all you should ever care about or talk about is athletics. The assumption is that all you know about is sports and therefore you are unqualified to speak about anything else intelligently. The hypocrisy is maddening. Most fans don’t really understand the sports they follow but it has never kept any of them from discussing it ad nauseum. Doctors are not told to “stick to medicine,” carpenters are not asked to “stick to building things” and people who work at a supermarket are not told to “stick to groceries.” Why is there a double standard for people who participate in and cover sports? 

   

  The tragedy in Uvalde Texas once again put America in the crosshairs of domestic terrorism and sports media members in a position where we are left to ponder if it is time for social commentary or the escapism that comes along with tuning into your favorite sports television show, radio broadcast, podcast, or column. In many cases it can be a delicate balance. There are so many other media outlets and sources that someone can turn to which don’t offer the opportunities to escape into the sports world. So, when the sports world decides, it is going to switch up normal programming to illuminate a particular story, when they decide that their commentary on an event, topic, or issues supersedes that of the sports climate that they normally indulge in, there are times where there is push back. That resistance normally comes in the form of the phrase “Stick to Sports!”

   

  What many fans who feel this way fail to understand is that sometimes there are topics that media members do not feel comfortable with letting go by without addressing them. At the end of the day humanity should win out over a bottom line or an inconvenience to one’s normal escapism. It is impossible to escape for people who have immersed their lives in mass media. How do you come into a local radio show, think about the issues that trouble our country, know you have a platform to address those issues, however big, and say nothing? It is incumbent on those who can help to do so. 

   

  This was no more evident in how the “Worldwide Leader” handled its sports personalities. Jemele Hill and Dan Lebatard were both suspended for their social/political commentary while working at ESPN. In Hill’s case she was suspended for political tweets that she made on her personal profile. Both incidents soured the relationship with the popular personalities and ultimately ended their relationship. Both have gone on to find the freedom they sought while at ESPN. The interesting thing is that after their departures (Hill’s especially) and in the wake of the senseless murders of multiple black and brown people at the hands of the police force, ESPN allowed their personalities to open up and share strong commentary on the subject which included many heartfelt, teary-eyed, strongly defiant admonishments of the police force and hoe they have treated people of color. Even in those cases, the “stick to sports” regulars came out to admonish the efforts to bring about change on the airwaves of their favorite sports talk debate show platform. 

   

  The hypocrisy is almost laughable if the subject matter was not so serious. Many of the same people who will tell athletes and the media members who cover them to stick to sports, are the same people who talk about athletes and media members having the power to make changes and influence people. How they feel seems to only depend on if they are personally affected by the issue. If so, then it is ok to address it and in fact, it is our duty to do so. If not, then media and athletes alike should just engage in the sports rhetoric that pleases them. You wonder if these people truly believe that athletes and sports media members really want to talk about these difficult subjects. There would be no reason to talk about police forces using excessive force if police did not use excessive force. There would be no reason to write monologues about racial inequality if that inequality did not exist. And the last thing anyone ever wants to discuss is mass murder and murdering children. These are not topics that many look to tackle or discuss but when they happen, what other choice are we left with? 

   

  We should never have to address children being massacred in a school while police forces sit outside and detain parents who are only trying to help their kids. There should be no reason to address unarmed black men and women being killed by police officers while heavily armed white terrorist are apprehended unharmed. The truth is that most members of the media do the very best they can to stick to sports or to create a sports angle in their commentary. If they truly addressed all of the horrible things that happened in this country there would be no time for sports and eventually they would depress themselves but again, there are some things that no matter how you try, you can not and should not ignore.  Sports and sports media should never have to be the vehicle for escape because you don’t want to deal with the heartbreak associated with these events. We should all do a better job of making sure these events do not continue, and how else do you make that happen, if everyone doesn't talk about it ..

   

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  Gene Clemons is a Sports Analyst and Contributor to CWN Sports. His weekly column and podcast - Gene Therapy focuses on Sports, Politics and Social/Urban issues.

   

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• Gene Therapy: USFL, Adapt or Die!

  May 10, 2022 Gene Clemons 0 Comments

  

   

  by Gene Clemons

   

  The USFL is weeks into their return to action after 37 years of inactivity. Through the first few weeks the USFL has shown video technology and camera angles not seen on an NFL broadcast. That innovation is nice but it's adding questionable tech to a product that everybody else already enjoys. The real innovations that could separate them from the established game have not really been taken advantage of so far in the young season. Only one three-point conversion has been made this season. Nobody has tried the new onside kick and there are other little gameplay innovations that we have not seen used.

   

  Outside of the players there are so many people who want the USFL to succeed. They know that there is room for football that is not the NFL that football fans will consume. But there is a quote from the movie Moneyball that applies perfectly to the USFL, the XFL and every other league that decides it wants to dip its toe in the water. Billy Beane is talking to his scouting department as they try to put a game plan in place to replace their three most influential players and he knows they can't keep doing things the way they have always done it. He announces their new direction, and all of the scouts think he's crazy. After dropping an expletive in response to Grady Fuson's answer, he bangs his fist on the table and says:

   

  "If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there."

   

  If these leagues try to do what the NFL does or even try to garner affiliation with the NFL, their product will without a doubt flounder and fail. In other words, "lose" to the NFL. So the innovation can't simply be in the first down technology, these leagues can't be afraid to embrace playing offense and defense differently. The rules can't be afraid to go completely away from formatting that we have become accustomed to with the NFL and college football. One of the reasons Canadian football has been able to survive is that the game is played differently than the American game. 12 men, forward motion, three downs, and many other smaller modifications allows them to create a lane all their own. So much that success in the NFL does not automatically mean success in Canada.

   

  In the first week of the USFL season, kickers blamed the new ball that was being used for all the missed kicks. The real question was why were there so many kicks attempted? Why were the offenses so conservative? Yes there is a new three-point conversion but why not promote scoring by making field goals more difficult? Reduce the field goal width to the size of an arena league field goal. That may make teams think three times about playing for a field goal. Back up the extra point to 35 yards so that teams understand the added value of the two and three-point conversions. Nobody comes to a football game to watch the four or five field goal performances seen regularly in the NFL. They want to see scoring or they want to see teams die trying. 

   

  The offensive end is where it is easiest to put in stipulations that reward aggressive offenses. Possibly changing the hash marks or even widening the field could encourage more offensive innovation. You can give an offense an extra 10 yards if they get a first down on a first down play. This would encourage offenses to abandon conservative play calling on third down. If the offense decides to punt beyond the 50 yard line or kick a field goal, the team should be penalized 10 yards. This would also encourage more people to go for it on fourth down once they get beyond midfield. Penalizing the conservative forces these coaches to innovate and adapt to a modernized game.

   

  Another innovation that the USFL needs to make is to speed the game up. Traditional play clocks allow for slower play from teams which in turn bores fans who have the attention span of a garden fly. If the play clock was set at 20 seconds, it would force all teams into up-tempo play which means that teams have a better chance of making mistakes that lead to more scoring. A faster game also keeps the fan engaged because things are moving quickly. Football is a game of mistakes and the team who makes the least mistakes usually wins the game. Force the teams into a situation where mistakes are critical. Don’t pause the game to allow defenses to substitute when offenses substitute. The pace of the game would ultimately result in the clock running consistently and a faster overall game time.

   

  Fans love scoring! The Arena League was one of the most popular professional football entities because they were a fast-paced league built on scoring. The USFL would be wise to bottle some of that excitement as they transition from Birmingham where all of the teams are currently playing, to their actual cities in year two of the league. That is when they can really make the league more personal like the AFL was able to do for years. The USFL has been consistently pulling ratings that rival or beat other professional leagues and with that it has proven it is a viable business. To grow in the right direction it will take foresight. The Arena League was able to tap into the community by offering an affordable experience for the family to come and attend. Many minor league baseball teams use similar models to draw in fans. The fan experience needs to be personal, much more personal than they get from the NFL and even big time college football. 

   

  The ability to innovate is there for the USFL, not just in technology used to broadcast the game, but on social media, in their game play and in their fan interaction. They need to adapt, to be open to constantly evolving as they explore various avenues. That willingness makes them unique and can make this league unique if they really want to be around forever.

   

   

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  Gene Clemons is a Sports Analyst and Contributor to CWN Sports. His weekly column and podcast - Gene Therapy focuses on Sports, Politics and Social/Urban issues.

   

   

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• Mambacita First, Mamba Forever.

  Apr 3, 2022 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

  

   

  by Andrew Williams

   

  It was almost a year ago when the news that rattled the sneaker world and the NBA community hit the newsfeeds and timelines. Nike announced that all Kobe- related footwear and apparel will cease production. At this time the deal that Kobe locked in after his retirement in 2016 was coming to an end, and with the recent passing (at the time) of the late great player it seemed like we would never see another Nike Kobe shoe. It felt like we would have to look Devin Booker or Demar Derozan to open an eBay store before we see another Kobe shoe.  We can’t say we were aware of the reasons the deal fell through, but the Bryant camp was looking for the rare lifetime Nike deal which is currently only held by only by athletes like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Cristiano Ronaldo solely.  So this was going to be a tough sell for the Bryant camp and at that time the deal stalled out. 

   

     Oh happy day sneaker-heads on March 24 2022, Nike officially announced they will be partnering with Vanessa Bryant and the Bryant family on championing a new generation of fans focusing on youth sports.  So what that means is the first release we can expect to see will pay homage to Kobe and Gigi with the focus on Gigi Bryant.  

   

   Nike is expected to release the first shoe from this new partnership with the Bryant family. Kobe 6 Protro “Mambacita Sweet 16” which will be releasing on what would have been Gigi Bryant’s 16th birthday May 1,2022. All proceeds from the shoe will benefit the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. 

   

   So I feel it would only be right in celebration of the new future of Nike/ Bryant partnership in my first let’s kick it, shoe review I will review the Kobe 6 Protro “Mambacita Sweet 16”.

   

   Some of us already took a peak at these shoes back in May when some photos were leaked prior to the Bryant family having a deal in place.  The Kobe 6 Protro “Mambacita Sweet 16” dresses the famous Kobe 6 silhouette in a white and textured black matching the late Gigi Bryant’s Mamba Academy uniform. The Kobe 6 silhouette is also adorned with both father and daughter name on the heel tucked right under the Mamba Academy logo. The  inside is  lined with black and white patterned fabric to give that true Mamba like feel to it. Definitely a must have shoe.  With the understated color way these Kobe 6 will be a hit on and off the court. I can see the sleek, elegant design this shoe can be dressed up from anything from a sports coat to a full tuxedo and still be the element that pops the outfit. The most impressive part was the shoe was completely designed by Vanessa Bryant to pay homage to her late husband and daughter. 

      With release dates appearing to be around the beginning of May we can be sure to find these as a summer staple for 2022 and years to come. So as I prep to devise a plan to obtain a pair of size 12  Kobe 6 Protro a part of me thinks back to that cold December night of 2020 scoping out a way to get the elusive final Grinch Kobe’s I quietly whisper to myself Mamba Forever. 

  

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  Andrew Williams is a Sports Analyst and Host of BallCourt - The World of Basketball with Coach Drew and Let's Kick It - Courtside.

   

   

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• Gene Therapy: Chris Rock, Don't Be Sorry, Be Careful!

  Mar 28, 2022 Gene Clemons 0 Comments

  

   

  by Gene Clemons

   

  Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. He did it on live television and in front of an audience filled with their peers. So many people were shocked by the event it almost crashed social media. There is one clip on Twitter that at the time this is being written has over 50 million views. Chris Rock called it "the greatest night in the history of television" in the immediate reaction to the run in with Smith. Why did it happen? It was the product of a joke. A joke that made fun of Jada Pinkett-Smith's bald head. Pinkett-Smith has been open about dealing with alopecia and part of it has been embracing this new bald look. But any time people who live in the public eye have to deal with changes in their life, they do so publicly. Because of that they are open to ridicule and scrutiny by people who feel as if stars should be able to accept ridicule and deal with hurtful jokes because they are rich and famous. You hear people say things like “That’s the price of fame.” This is the place where athletics and the arts deal with the same issues. Because they perform publicly, people believe they know actors, musicians, and athletes. Because they are compensated handsomely, people believe they have the right to say whatever. Jokes like Chris Rock’s open the doors for the average person to make light of a serious situation.

   

  Was the slap extreme, probably, but what better way should Smith have handled it? At some point, embarrassing someone publicly should be matched with the same energy. If Smith reaches out to Rock behind the scenes and voices his displeasure with Rock, would Rock go public with the conversation and apologize or does he go with the old adage that as a comedian, you never feel bad about anything you say on stage because it is all art. If that is the case, there is a chance that as a long-time standup comedian, Rock knew that this could happen when you look to get laughs at the expense of someone in the audience. He may just file the slap under the “price of doing business” as a standup comedian. For Smith, this is simply having his wife’s back in the moment immediately. You could see she did not find the joke funny at all. Will could have sat there but instead wanted to let Rock and probably all of the people who have taken shots at his family for over 25 years that he is no longer going to tolerate the foolishness and disrespect lobbed at them. This is the shot heard round the world and a warning. Tread lightly! But for many others who are not Will Smith or have Smith’s public cache when they are violated or attacked (physically or verbally).

   

  

   

  Athletes are often ridiculed for their performance by people who could never come close to playing their sport and even if they did play, they most likely fall drastically short of the excellence of the player. The entitlement of fans, and even analysts, to believe they can say whatever, whenever they want to an athlete with impunity is amazing. When Kwame Brown became tired of being used as a punchline by Stephen A. Smith and various other NBA and basketball commentators and writers, he began firing back. Some of the rants he went on were probably funny to many in the public space, but they came from a real place where that man no longer felt as if he could hold his tongue. We have all been there but thankfully for the majority of us, we don’t have to live out our lives for millions of people to see.

   

  So, on the occasion that there is a response from an athlete, it is often disastrous for the fan and the player. The fan gets beat up, embarrassed, removed from venues, and banned from watching the team they claim to love in person. With all of that, it is still worse for the players. They receive backlash for being thin skinned. They get their actions questioned and their performances are put underneath a microscope, and if they actually get into a physical altercation, there is the legal side of things, especially if that person is looking at the player as a lottery ticket. Even when the fan is in the wrong, they still look for cause to sue a player and force a settlement because most players don’t want their personal lives on display for everyone to see. Many people look to take advantage of the fact that for many of these athletes, it is cheaper to settle than to spend the time and money going through civil litigation. In many cases athletes, like movie and music stars, can’t live normal lives. There is so much anxiety behind functioning in a society that forces them to be “on” at all times because Lebron has to be Lebron at the store, Beyonce has to always be Beyonce regardless of how she feels, and Will Smith is expected to be the “Fresh Prince” or that movie megastar they see on screen.

   

  This Smith/Rock situation should remind everyone of a simple fact. Just because you have freedom of speech, it does not mean you are free from the consequences that follow your speech. In this hyper-sensitive society, it is interesting that criticism and ridicule have not subsided. In fact, many fans, columnists, bloggers, and mass media types feel more empowered to voice their strong opinions because they realize that level of spice gets reactions from people on both sides of the issue. We hardly ever stop to consider the feelings of the person we are kicking while they are down. We don’t think in their worst moment or a time where they are feeling unsure of themselves that their reaction might be over the top. That’s a failure on our part to read the room because whatever was said could possibly be the straw that broke the camel’s back. This event is supposed to be a celebration of excellence in film, it is not a stand-up half-hour special. For the most part, the people attending this show are not there for the laughs and they definitely are not there for laughs at the expense of the people who are there or dealing with illness.

   

  It has been said that Rock may not have known what Pinkett-Smith was going through. If that is the case, then that is a failure on his part. The first failure was to make people laugh by dissing someone else. The second failure was not knowing the person you were dissing, was going through a serious issue and that it had probably affected her mentally and emotionally. The final failure was not being prepared. He stood on stage with his hands behind his back after firing off his joke and the subsequent comments based on the crowd reaction. He watched Smith walk up to him knowing that was not in the program or script. He then took a flush slap to the face which we should all be thankful that Smith did not decide to test out his punching ability. Rock may have been out cold; Smith would have been escorted out in handcuffs and society would still be mocking people. In fact, the entire aftermath has been filled with people getting their jokes off at Rock’s expense; what interesting irony.

   

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  Gene Clemons is a Sports Analyst and Contributor to CWN Sports. His weekly column and podcast - Gene Therapy focuses on Sports, Politics and Social/Urban issues.

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• Gene Therapy: Guilty Until Proven....Guilty - The Case For and Against Deshaun Watson

  Mar 15, 2022 Gene Clemons 0 Comments

  

   

  by Gene Clemons

   

  On March 11th a Harris County grand jury made up of 12 people sat and heard evidence presented to them for six hours and at the conclusion of their deliberation, they decided that there was no reason to go forward with sexual misconduct charges against Texans’ quarterback Deshaun Watson. It was a decision that marked the first legal action being decided in a case that has been tried in the court of public opinion for a year. The verdict had already been rendered. It was loud and almost unanimous; guilty! So of course, people were surprised to see this decision from the grand jury. After all, there were 23 women. They can’t all be lying, right?

   

  If we take a look at the timeline of this case, things never really seemed black and white and at best always felt like something wasn’t right. When the initial civil suit was filed, Watson’s attorney had documentation that they said showed that the accuser attempted to blackmail Watson about a consensual encounter and once he was non-compliant, the lawsuit was the next level of escalation. Shortly after the same attorney was able to get other women who were willing to file civil suits against Watson. As the suits piled up, so did the doubt about Watson’s innocence. After all, where there is smoke, there’s usually fire and this was quickly becoming a blazing inferno. But there was information that made no sense. The lawyer filing all of the suits, did not want to release the accusers' names to the defense. None of them made any criminal complaints and many of them met with Watson more than once. None of those things are enough to say a man is innocent, but it is enough to say there’s doubt.

   

  Shortly after the Houston police department opened a criminal investigation into Watson surrounding these allegations. Now things took a real turn. Media and those that were following the case felt as if this was the worst thing for Watson who was still actively trying to force a trade out of Houston because the team seemed as if they were going in a direction that Watson did not want to go. Some of the regular words and phrases that you heard used to describe Watson and his case were, “radioactive” “Not reliable at this time” “not worth the backlash”. Some people said that teams would be foolish to trade for him “given the uncertainty of his situation.” But the truth is that his situation was pretty simple. He had been accused of something that he emphatically denied and had not even been charged with a crime. So, the projections about Watson seemed to be based on a presumption of guilt and the risk associated with being linked to someone like that.

   

  So, after being drugged through the mud for the past year and called a “serial predator” Watson finally saw a victory. The grand jury decision meant that there would be no criminal case against him, and that allowed all of the trade discussions to pick up once again. Many teams are rumored to have shown interest and why not. For a team without a quarterback, Watson represents the lifeblood every team needs to make a run at a championship, and they all know that Watson not only has championship DNA, but he is also still one of the young guns in the NFL with room to continuously improve. But as soon as we began hearing the rumors about where he might end up, we started seeing the negatives pop up from people again.

   

  It's always amazing to watch people conveniently pull out their moral values in situations that are not warranted and don't really concern them. So many were too quick to condemn Watson and now, even with these new developments they don't want to admit that they may have been a little hasty with their condemnation. It is pride that gets in the way of people admitting that they could be wrong. As a result, they double down and in many cases get even louder. Trying to sway the people with their passion and anecdotal information rather than with the facts. This is what prolongs the embarrassment for all parties involved. For the accused, they never get the chance to put the incident in their rear view. For the accuser it is a reminder that they either were not believed, or lied and almost ruined someone’s life. 

   

  When Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and others died in a tragic helicopter crash, so many people came out to celebrate the life of this extraordinary man. Someone who had been taken from the world too soon and one that many believed had the opportunity to have a major impact on society well in the future. The stories talked about how much he loved being a father to girls and the responsibility he carried. There were stories about his support and advocacy for the WNBA and all of the countless philanthropic endeavors that he never wanted to be made public. But in the midst of all of the positive remembrance of his life and impact, there were still people who brought up the 2003 rape charge that was dismissed. Even in tragic death, people felt the need to bring up the lowest moment in an otherwise stellar life. That is the impact an accusation can have.

   

  In the end, there are no winners, there are only victims. That’s the sad part. The only people who will ever know what happened in those massage sessions are Deshaun Watson and those women. Everyone else is left with speculation. If we truly believed in the words “innocent until proven guilty” we would give those that have not been charged with a crime the respect of not being referred to as criminals. We must never forget that being accused is not the same as being convicted. The accused deserves as much respect and consideration as the accuser, especially when the evidence is he said, she said. It is ok to wait and see. Nobody is harmed by patience.

   

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  Gene Clemons is a Sports Analyst and Contributor to CWN Sports. His weekly column and podcast - Gene Therapy focuses on Sports, Politics and Social/Urban issues.

   

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